May 21, 2025 • 28 mins
Bob Pickett visits with Rob Neville President and CEO of Goodwill Central Texas.
Rob Neville is a successful business builder, entrepreneur, and turnaround enthusiast with over 30 years of valuation creation and delivery experience in private, public, and nonprofit environments across various industries, including the life sciences, software, healthcare IT, and venture capital. Rob has been a finalist in the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award multiple times, winning the Central Texas Life Science category in 2018. He was selected as E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year judge for 2021 and 2022. Rob was co-founder of a 501(c)(3) providing educational opportunities to inner-city at-risk youth in east Austin, has served as a member of the Board of Directors on the Austin Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and is currently on the nonprofit board of the Forward Foundation.
Rob Neville is a successful business builder, entrepreneur, and turnaround enthusiast with over 30 years of valuation creation and delivery experience in private, public, and nonprofit environments across various industries, including the life sciences, software, healthcare IT, and venture capital. Rob has been a finalist in the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award multiple times, winning the Central Texas Life Science category in 2018. He was selected as E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year judge for 2021 and 2022. Rob was co-founder of a 501(c)(3) providing educational opportunities to inner-city at-risk youth in east Austin, has served as a member of the Board of Directors on the Austin Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and is currently on the nonprofit board of the Forward Foundation.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Bob Pikett. This is our podcast CEOs you Should Know,
and we're sitting down right now with Rob Neville. Rob
is president and CEO of Goodwill Central Texas. Rob, first
of all, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Good to be a Bob Now, president's CEO of Goodwill
Central Texas. How big is that? How much real estate
does that cover?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It's pretty big. It goes in the west from Fredericksburg
and Marble falls down south to Gonzales, which is the
south of San Antonio North, I think near Sledo. It's
a big area, one point two million households. It's a
lot more than just William Center, Travis County there, yep,
fifteen counties. So when people think of good Will, I
know they n actually think of the stores that you've seen,
(00:41):
the neighborhoods we can go, buy and make a donation. Right,
how many stores do you have in your territory? Thirty
seven at this point, that's a lot. We also have outlets. Huh,
that's very interesting.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, okay, now, what's the difference between the store and
an outlet?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Then store you drop and donate and talk about what
we do with that. And we're very grateful for people
that donate. We try and sell it in the store.
That doesn't sell in the store, it goes to the
outlets where it's sold by the pounds, so you can
load up a shopping cart full of clothes and pay,
you know, just over a buck per pound.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
That's interesting. So how many outlets do you have there?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We've got two major outlets are the north and south
of the city. And one of the things people don't
recognize with good Will. In addition to the mission, and
we'll talk about that, I'm sure we also have a
sustainability goal ninety five million pounds of things that donated
that we divert from landfill, which is about two capital buildings.
(01:36):
You can imagine the weight of two capital buildings every
year that we're diverting from landfill.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That's kind of put things in perspective right there. You know,
when most people think a good will, I know, a
couple of times a year we'll go through of course family,
my kids get big, we take the clothes or even
toys and we'll make the donation at a local goodwill
store there in Cedar Park. So after a person makes
a donation a good will, what happens to it? Where
does it goes to stay in that store? What do
(02:03):
you do with all the clothing you receive?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, the primary reason we have retail. And actually, you
know me a CEO quite frankly, when I was asked
to consider this job, that's all I knew about Goodwill,
and most people only know that good Will is a
thrift store. But really that's the means to the end
for a social enterprise. And the thrift allows us to
(02:27):
do what we really want to do, and that is
our mission. And so your donations enable people to either
get a job that have barriers to employment or in education.
And the real magic happens when we combine both of
those and we help people get an education and a job.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
That's beautiful. And of course it stays right here in
Central Texas, right exactly right, that's great right here. So
you're helping your neighbors basically with your donation to Goodwill.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, And I could tell you listen, there's some great
bargains a good Well, I'm going to visit the outlet
stores now. First of all, Rob, but how long have
you been CEO of Goodwill?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
It's coming on three years now three, where'd you come from.
I've got a business background. I've run a public company.
I've run a number of private companies in technology, in biotech,
and so the question is why Goodwill?
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, that was going to be the next question. Why Goodwill?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
You know, I wanted to do something that madded and
I grew up poor. I grew up with parents that
had had no education, and I was afforded an opportunity
to get an education that you know, was just unheard of.
I went to college based on where I grew up
in Durban, South Africa. And you know, after a career,
(03:40):
I wanted to leave the world a better place than
I founded and this was the way to do that.
And as I toured around Goodwill and I saw we've
got seven high schools, there's one example that are therefore
adults that failed to get their high school diploma the
first time around, and there we are now facilitating that education.
The very thing that I got my self, we're now
(04:01):
providing and we actually help about ten thousand people a year,
which is significant, right that most communities ten thousand people
either get a job or get an education every year
because of Goodwill Central Texas.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
How did you first, heal, well, how did you first
get involved with Goodwill? Did you volunteer before you found
out about it? I mean, where did you hear about?
Where did it all start?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
That's it happened actually around the dinner table, and there
were board members that were struggling with the reality of
thrift and the competitive environment we found ourselves in. You know,
this has been Good's been around over one hundred years,
and we've always had the lion chev market and over time,
(04:44):
because thrift has now become so popular, there's very well
funded public companies coming into the you know, and pe
firms buying up thrift and coming in and competing, and
we've never really had to worry. And so the board
we're wrestling with what do we need to do so
that we cannot continue to do thrift? So continue to
do our mission? How do we sustain our mission? And
(05:07):
they decided to bring in a CEO from the outside.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
And that was you, that was me.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So it was it was actually a tennis club and
an informal tennis club at one of the board members' homes.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
What was your first day like to be CEO? What
was your first mission? Where did you go right into
the store to see to kind of work your way
up first the first weekend. It's actually a good question.
You're bringing back memories the first weekend. I wanted to
actually live in the shoes of our frontline employees, and
so I went into the back room of one of
the stores and I was a donation attenant. I then,
(05:39):
you know, worked my way through the store and ended
up being a cashier, and I wanted to actually feel
what it was like and experience that for myself. That's
the way somebody should do it. I really believe that
that's great. Yeah, yeah, and from there, look where you
are now, You've got everything. Is there something that you
wish the general public knew about Goodwill that they don't know?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I think we've spoken about it or a.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Common miss, you know, misconception of good Will.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I think a lot of it is related to that
this really is a Central Texas you know enterprise. It's
not a national enterprise. Yeah, there is a good Will
International and we are a part of that, and they
help with best practices and other things. But the thing
that is so shocking to me and everyone that we
speak to that doesn't know about Goodwill, the breadth of
(06:27):
what we do. I mentioned one thing, and that's we've
got seven highcoals. Five of those are in prisons, So
we're enabling folks whilst in prison to get their high
school diploma so they're employable and when they're released. We
have so many other programs. We have an academy and
these are all free, by the way, to the public.
We have an academy where folks can get certifications in
(06:51):
for botomy and nurses aid and truck driving and a
long list of different certifications to and you know, to
help them go from being perhaps so fourteen dollars in
our employee to a twenty four hour employee and above
a livable wage.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
And again you said it's all free.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
It's all free.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
So you're building for the future. How long you been
in the Austin.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Area personally about thirty years, just coming on thirty.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
So you've seen a lot of change, a lot of change.
But now you look in goodwill in aternally different light
being the CEO.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Right, yeah, you know, just back to you know, the
board's sort of direction to me, and that is that
this is a competitive environment. Our market share is declining
significantly over time, So how do we build an enterprise
that is sustainable so we can continue to do our mission.
And so that's been the you know, the last three
(07:39):
years is coming in with a for profit perspective and
trying to turn a nonprofit that has historically not had
technology for example, you know, most nonprofits don't have the
means to innovate and how do how do we create
operational efficiency so we can actually build and grow the
(08:02):
organization and compete with the folks coming into our territory.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
And of course you've seen a lot of change, especially
in Austin, with it grow and you can see the
demand is even better, even more than it used to
be exactly years ago, exactly. Another question for you, Rob
is what do you think the biggest strength is of
the company right now with you in charge?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Biggest strength, I would say, you know, obviously the mission
is the strength. It's you know, it's just incredible what
we do tomorrow. I'm talking as an example to Graduation
or Project Search, where children with special needs that have
little hope of getting employment, and this is what we're about,
(08:42):
removing barriers to employment. We spend a year training them
and then they're going to be getting they've been graduating
and they'll get employed in Seaton and Scott and White.
So the strength really is the breadth of our mission.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I think it's great that you can see the results
from the mission that you've started since you've been CEO. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
And I think another strength, which is in parallel, is
that we're a social enterprise and what that means. And
by the way, I didn't know any of this, so
you know, you're getting a three year education. By three
years of education. The social enterprise means we don't need
to be out there holding our hands out for donations.
We're out there hoping that folks recognize the value of
(09:22):
the goods that they donate to us at our stores,
because we turn that into mission. And so I think
it's a real strength that we've got a sustainable business
model through donated goods that powers our mission.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Which I think it's great because it's now just the
visiting with you these past few minutes is making me
look at Goodwill an entirely different light when I start
by make my donation, Yeah I do.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I just want to thank you because you really are
getting someone an education or a job every time you donate.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Well, and that's the mission right there, as you're helping
with a mission. You're helping Goodwill and again you're helping
your friends and neighbors right here in Central Texas.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
So I'm hoping that after this podcast, we're going to
have this assive rush to something to know what to
do with all this stuff? Is that? Are you promising
me that?
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Well, well, I'm montell you the next time that I
go to make a donation at the Cedar Park Goodwill,
I'm going to tell them that I met you and
that I'm looking at things in a different light now.
I want to thank them for helping everybody because you know,
normally you just stop buy you make a donation, and
you don't think about it. But now there's something, especially
when it comes to donating items too. Now there's something
to think about when you drop off your donation. That's right,
(10:25):
how you're helping the future the future. Speaking of the future,
what is the future? What are your goals with this?
Because I know that it's got to be a lot
different than it was three years ago when you started.
What is your long term goal for Central Texas and Goodwill?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And that's such a good question. I'm glad you teed
that up for me because we when I came in.
One of the first things we did is we did
a strategic plan, like what do we need to do
ten years from now, three years from now, and next year.
And we used an operating system folks who run companies
is called traction eos. It's an incredible operator system and
(11:00):
how do you run a business? And our long term
vision is the starting point and we want to expand
our mission. We don't want to reduce our mission. We
want to expand our mission so that each of us
stores and maybe not every store, but stores and communities
where there's folks that have challenges. We want to be
the place that people think of when they have a
(11:21):
non medical emergency. Right now, we're very good at education,
and we're very good at work. If someone comes in
and they need housing, if they have food and security
and a myriad of other things, you know, mental health
crises and the like. The challenge for those folks in
our community is they have to navigate multiple complex systems.
(11:42):
There's no one place they can go to. We want
to be that place that they go to, and we
want to be able to triage them if we personally
can't help them as goodwill. We want to have partners
in place that we can actually hand them off and
that they get the help that they need.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
So I think you get rid of all the red tape,
all the red tape, which I think that's a beautiful statement.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
So one day, and mark my words, you'll see a
good Will store that will have next to it another
sign that looks like Goodwill, but it's not. It's going
to be a partner community center. You know, our marketing
team is working on getting the right naming. So this
is this is this is a new vision and it's
going to be right next to it saying you will
(12:24):
actually see visibly as you donate, you'll see there's something
else to Goodwill that they're actually doing for the community.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, so when you drop by, you're given the fuel building.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Next builder to build the community center.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Was that your vision or did you get that from
a from another business?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
No, No, that's that's my board and my team's vision.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
It's a great vision.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
What what business related book though has inspired you? And
there's got to be a few, right.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Well, I mentioned just a little while ago this book Traction,
and so that you know that that would be the
book that we as a let me just back up
as an as an executive team, and I've got a
fantastic team, you know, to to run a complicated organization
like ours, nearly two thousand employees, many of them have
(13:12):
had some challenging pasts, there's some challenges. My team in
place right now is fantastic. What we do is we
go away every quarter on a retreat and we typically
read a book ahead of time so that we come
into that retreat with some renewed energy and ideas and
continual education. And the one book we read early on
(13:36):
was the very book that I mentioned, Traction. There's a
companion book called what the heck Eos? And this was
the operating system that we were going to use to
function as an organization. So that's one book and the
entire organization is embraced it and it's having tremendous results.
The second book that comes to mind that we just
(13:57):
reviewed was Oh yeah, The Ideal Team The Ideal Team
Player by Patrick LINCIONI I think I'm saying is his
last name correctly, And really there's three characteristics that the
book highlights and that we look for in an ideal
Team member. Hungry, humble, and smart. Got to be hungry
(14:17):
and for me, that means do they buy into the
to the mission of what we're doing. Are they hungry
to come in and help? Have they got a personal
story that can that attaches them to our mission because
it's not going to be easy and they need to
know that they're there for the right reason. Humble And
one question I was asking the views is what's the
biggest mistake you've made? And if you can't tell me
(14:38):
a mistake I've personally made a ton even a CEO,
then then then you don't have the humility that I
think you need for for the role. And then smart
all leadership teams were problem solvers. We're constantly solving problems
and so so I have I have a way love
to test you, Bob, but I don't know. I think
we'll have time and how to actually show case someone's
(15:00):
ability to problem solve.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Interesting? Interesting? So how does this management style work in
the masses? Pretty well?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I would say we're getting traction and you know, we
had the best year we've ever had last year, so
happy to report that.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Yeah, So it's you know, the difficult part in such
a big organization is there's always more to do, right,
You know, we have a focus for this year. It's
part of the traction process. You have a one year focus,
a three year set of what they call them a
three year picture, and a one year picture. We're we're
needed to reinvest in our retail. We've had a emphasis
(15:40):
on mission for many years, in fact decades, where we're
taking money out of the retail, out of thrift, and
we've been investing that into the mission, which is great,
but the retail stores are not where they need to be.
And you know, I'm embarrassed to say that some of
us stores really do need a facelift. And so we're
now reinvesting in our retail. Okay, that's good. That's good
because that's first thing people see the general public seeds
(16:01):
as your store. Yeah, exactly, and that kind of sets
the vision for the company. Okay, this is how did
you You said you had the most successful year last year?
How did you measure your success? What was it? So
we have a schoolcard at each each division has their
own schoolcard. The highest level scorecard is called the Balance
Scoore Card and that's what the board reviews and holds
(16:24):
me and my team accountable to. It has fifteen or
so metrics. They are divided into mission metrics, and that's
the main thing, which is pretty cool. As a public
company CEOs always hold to, you know, financial metrics. As
a nonprofit CEO, we held to mission metrics. We really
want to have a bigger impact. The board wants to
(16:46):
see that ten thousand number I mentioned earlier. They want
to see that growing. And so we're constantly tracking how
many people are getting certifications, how many people are getting
how many graduates are we getting in a high school.
So a number of mission metrics, a number of financial metrics,
a number of retail metrics. One that most retail people
(17:07):
would understand the same store sales growth, how are we
doing are our stores doing better this year than they
were last year? And then we have a number of
people metrics we are you know, nonprofits are about people
and how we're doing on retaining people, how we're doing
on you know, on growing our workforce and developing them.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Right. Is there a special time of year where you
can really measure this with a good will? I mean,
I know stories are always going to be fact. Around
Halloween when people flocked a good will, it seems to
look for bargains and everything around Christmas time. But is
this a certain time of year that is the best
year for Goodwill?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
A certain time of Halloween's Halloween is massive, you know. Interestingly,
right now is when donating. We're actually pretty low on
donations right now. It's just you know, it's just the
time of the year, the years, it is cycnical. And
so this this point right now, I think maybe it's
back to school. You know, I don't have I'd have
to get my retail expert to give me the real reasoning.
(18:04):
But this is a point where donations actually start picking up.
So this is a good time for us from a
donation standpoint.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Good because the kids have grown stuff, so they're donating
the They're the same thing with spring cleaning also, you
know exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
And also it's a time where people are changing homes
and changing school districts. So you know, for me personally,
right now, I'm moving. And so my own local Goodwill
has got about four or five coll oads in the
in the last few weeks.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
So with the growth of Austin, that's got to be
tough for you guys, because you guys always have to
be prepared for the growth. But it means more more
stores for you guys, and more money it's going to
cost to complete this mission. How is the growth of
Austin going to affect you in the next few years.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Look, it's great. I mean we're in the right place
and you know they also pard for it in other words, yeah, yeah,
you know, the challenge for us is a real estate.
You know, we do need to grow our footprint. There's
there's a number of areas where we need to have
a present and so it's been challenging trying to find
As a nonprofit. You know, we have some access to capital,
we can't go out and buy a whole lot of stores.
(19:08):
We have to rent and finding the right locations. And interestingly, Bob,
there's there's being a few landlords that when they find
out good Will was coming, they'll want us there. And
if you look at some of our newest stores, the
refresh stores and the ones we're going to be rolling out,
they're fantastic looking. I think they're better than most of
the you know, the the retailed I want to say,
(19:30):
middle you know that we've got a really good look.
I'd encourage you to come and see our clock Tower store.
It's up on one eighty three and then our Liberty
Hill store that's about to launch. It is a beautiful store.
And you know, so that has been a challenge. We're
not always accepted and yet we're doing good for our
local community.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Well, I can tell you the Seat of Park stores
are Mason maybe a small store, but you walk in there.
It's a great staff and when you walk in there,
you really you just want to shop to see which
brings up the inventory? How often will the inventory change
in a typical Goodwill location to five weeks?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
So we put we put new goods out and there's
different color tags. I'm sure you've seen that the tags
on the on the goods have a color.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I had no idea what they mean. Then what do
they mean?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
So you know, depending on where you are on the rotation,
the color is the color is for one week we
put them out, they get a certain color, and then
we can track that color and see how many sell
each week. And then on the fourth week we then
run the color of the week's sale and that color
is half price.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
I'll be okay, now, just because I take stuff to
the good Will store and City Park, that's not where
it's going to be. It's going to go to some
other locations around the area. Right, what is the most
popular goodwill location you have? Do you have got a
narrow down with your research.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I think how Kyle Store may be one of them,
or San Marcos. Those stores are really doing both growing
areas too. That's why they're doing They're doing great.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Just amazing, amazing. See there's a lot more to good
will and just stopping buying and making your nation get
to know them about their Also, we.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Also have Bob, we have people. We have intake centers
where people literally come off the street and say, I'm
desperate and you know, I need help. And we've got
a whole team. I think we've got one hundred social
workers that help these folks, stabilize them, get them into
a program. If we can get them into a program,
get them a job, if we can get them a job.
My marketing team have done an incredible thing. We decided
(21:33):
to start what's they called the Bridge Fund, and this
is money that we raised through donations and normally at
our gala. By the way, I'd love to invite you
to be in my personal guest at my table.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
I would I would love it.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
You would have it, you know you would. There's not
a dry eye on the room because the most encouraging
part of what we do is the testimony is of
life change of the people that were touching and our
gala every year we're showcasing some of those life stories
of people that were homeless, that were living in their car.
They got a job in our retail store, and they've
got a certification, and they've got a high school diploma.
(22:07):
Then they went on and did an internship and now
they're employed and they've got a home, they've got their
kids back out of foster care. Those stories are daily
for us, and that would that's really what fuels us.
And at the gala we have that. But back to
my point, the money we raise at that gala and
other donations have come into goodwill. We put that one
hundred percent of that money into the Bridge Fund. There's
(22:28):
no admin overhead. One hundred percent of that goes to
our students of our high school or our academy, or
the people that walk in the door, or our frontline
workers that have just got challenges. Sometimes they can't afford
their rent, Sometimes they can't afford their electric bill. Sometimes
they can't even fix the you know a you know,
their car that's broken down and we're able to help
them stay employed or stay in in their in their school.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Okay, so what's what's what's the best thing that bet
our listeners can do to help Goodwill? How can they
find out more how they can be a part of it.
Would you recommend you have a website they can go
to or just walk into a store and start talking
to What are your employees?
Speaker 2 (23:07):
That's a good question.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
The primary way the community has helped us, and we're
extremely grateful, and that is just thinking about Goodwill. There
are competitive thrift stores and they pretend to have a mission,
but they for profit and they donate a very small
percentage of their revenue or their margin to a nonprofit.
And they're trying and claim that they're nonprofit.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
We're not.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
We're a nonprofit. Nobody's getting rich and there's no equity
in this organization.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
You know, we're.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Purely about taking everything that we do and investing that
back into the community. So just continuing to donate and
also continuing to shop that already moves the Dell significantly.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I like that. Yeah, Yeah, you've got a great job.
You wake up every morning. You know exactly what you're doing.
You see the results. So it sounds that's great.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
That's why I chose this, But I can also say
this is not It hasn't been easy. I'll give you
an example of one of the ways we've innovated. Typically nonprofits,
they just don't have technology expertise and quite frankly, the
money to be able to invest in technology. And yet
that's the reality that we live in. Especially yeah, and
(24:20):
interestingly for goodwill, our frontline workers that work in the
back room that you mentioned that take the donations. You know,
they've had some challenging backgrounds and not necessarily experienced and
knowing the value of goods, and yet they are the
ones that have to figure out what are our prices
for And so we're developing technology to help guide.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Them with that.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
And and so that's one of the ways that we're innovating.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And then and AI is a big part of that.
I'm sure that you know practically every podcast, I'm sure
people talk about AR. We're as an organization embracing AR
just to become more effective. And I feel we have
a responsibility to the government agencies that support us and
the people that support us through the donations we have
a responsibility to maximize that investment in us in the
(25:06):
community impact, and I think technology is one way to
get us at So.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
You said that this week you're speaking at a graduation ceremony. Yes, sir, yeah,
you already got your speech written.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
You know, I no, just like here, I didn't come
to speech.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
But I'm to sell you're speaking from the heart, so
I know, no matter what you say, it's going to
come from right here. Yeah, exactly, not from a script.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah. And you know there's something when you when you
stand up and there's there's not a lot of kids,
but these kids had no hope, you know, they had
that there was you know, their future look bleak and
and and actually personally have been very close to what
it looks like to have special needs kids. And you know,
the you know, you know, you know, for for most
parents at you know, twenty one or so, then you're
(25:50):
you know, you're then free to move about the cabin
and your kids go off, and you know, with special
needs kids, it's it's a lifetime commitment. And and this
gives them hope, gives some independence, and it's sowarning, I
can assure you in that room, and when these kids
are holding up you know, their certifications, and they're getting jobs.
(26:10):
Known the jobs that they get are jobs quite frankly
that most people wouldn't want to have, their repetitive type jobs.
And I'll give an example of filling the nurse's station
with syringes. You know, somebody's got to do that. And
we can train kids to do that, and they love
it because they can do it, and they feel that
they're mastering, you know, their domain, and it gives them
(26:30):
hope and purpose and independence. Yeah, and you can see
the look in their faces. Also, I'm doing something exactly
for the good, which I think get the best payoff
right there.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Yeah, and everything that's great. Buisiting with Rob and Neville,
of course, President's CEO of Goodwill Central Texas. Describe your
hopes for the upcoming year in one sentence if you can,
where do you see Goodwill Central Texas one year from now.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
We just had the best year that we've had in
practically every metric. It's going to be tough to replicate.
We have been impacted, quite frankly, Bob, by some of
the geopolitical challenges. Some of our grants have been canceled
that we use to help get folks employed, and so
it's a more challenging year. But in the midst of that,
(27:19):
what we're hoping to do is, like I said, invest
in our retail, invest in our retail technology. So my
hope in I spent this is longer than one sentence.
I'm sorry, but that's okay.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
I should have said one paragraph because it's great. I'm
enjoying it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
My hope is that our retail that folks start recognizing
when they come to a Goodwill store this is a
new look and new feel. They're getting better products, and
that we're more effective in generating income from that, so
we can go ahead and continue to do what we
do well.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, I guarantee you this is a good Will store
in Central Texas, You're going to look at Goodwill in
a whole different light or different vision. I love your vision.
Rob Neville, President, CEO Goodwill of Central Tech. Is there
anything that we haven't covered again? I want the website
for Goodwill work at people Goodwill Central Texas dot org.
Goodwill Central Texas dot org find out more. Rob Neville,
(28:13):
Goodwill Central Texas CEO and President, thanks again for being
part of the podcast today. Really appreciate Bob, thank you
and we'll see you at Goodwill
I'm Bob Pikett. This is our podcast CEOs you Should Know,
and we're sitting down right now with Rob Neville. Rob
is president and CEO of Goodwill Central Texas. Rob, first
of all, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Good to be a Bob Now, president's CEO of Goodwill
Central Texas. How big is that? How much real estate
does that cover?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It's pretty big. It goes in the west from Fredericksburg
and Marble falls down south to Gonzales, which is the
south of San Antonio North, I think near Sledo. It's
a big area, one point two million households. It's a
lot more than just William Center, Travis County there, yep,
fifteen counties. So when people think of good Will, I
know they n actually think of the stores that you've seen,
(00:41):
the neighborhoods we can go, buy and make a donation. Right,
how many stores do you have in your territory? Thirty
seven at this point, that's a lot. We also have outlets. Huh,
that's very interesting.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, okay, now, what's the difference between the store and
an outlet?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Then store you drop and donate and talk about what
we do with that. And we're very grateful for people
that donate. We try and sell it in the store.
That doesn't sell in the store, it goes to the
outlets where it's sold by the pounds, so you can
load up a shopping cart full of clothes and pay,
you know, just over a buck per pound.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
That's interesting. So how many outlets do you have there?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
We've got two major outlets are the north and south
of the city. And one of the things people don't
recognize with good Will. In addition to the mission, and
we'll talk about that, I'm sure we also have a
sustainability goal ninety five million pounds of things that donated
that we divert from landfill, which is about two capital buildings.
(01:36):
You can imagine the weight of two capital buildings every
year that we're diverting from landfill.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
That's kind of put things in perspective right there. You know,
when most people think a good will, I know, a
couple of times a year we'll go through of course family,
my kids get big, we take the clothes or even
toys and we'll make the donation at a local goodwill
store there in Cedar Park. So after a person makes
a donation a good will, what happens to it? Where
does it goes to stay in that store? What do
(02:03):
you do with all the clothing you receive?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, the primary reason we have retail. And actually, you
know me a CEO quite frankly, when I was asked
to consider this job, that's all I knew about Goodwill,
and most people only know that good Will is a
thrift store. But really that's the means to the end
for a social enterprise. And the thrift allows us to
(02:27):
do what we really want to do, and that is
our mission. And so your donations enable people to either
get a job that have barriers to employment or in education.
And the real magic happens when we combine both of
those and we help people get an education and a job.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
That's beautiful. And of course it stays right here in
Central Texas, right exactly right, that's great right here. So
you're helping your neighbors basically with your donation to Goodwill.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, And I could tell you listen, there's some great
bargains a good Well, I'm going to visit the outlet
stores now. First of all, Rob, but how long have
you been CEO of Goodwill?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
It's coming on three years now three, where'd you come from.
I've got a business background. I've run a public company.
I've run a number of private companies in technology, in biotech,
and so the question is why Goodwill?
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Yeah, that was going to be the next question. Why Goodwill?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
You know, I wanted to do something that madded and
I grew up poor. I grew up with parents that
had had no education, and I was afforded an opportunity
to get an education that you know, was just unheard of.
I went to college based on where I grew up
in Durban, South Africa. And you know, after a career,
(03:40):
I wanted to leave the world a better place than
I founded and this was the way to do that.
And as I toured around Goodwill and I saw we've
got seven high schools, there's one example that are therefore
adults that failed to get their high school diploma the
first time around, and there we are now facilitating that education.
The very thing that I got my self, we're now
(04:01):
providing and we actually help about ten thousand people a year,
which is significant, right that most communities ten thousand people
either get a job or get an education every year
because of Goodwill Central Texas.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
How did you first, heal, well, how did you first
get involved with Goodwill? Did you volunteer before you found
out about it? I mean, where did you hear about?
Where did it all start?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
That's it happened actually around the dinner table, and there
were board members that were struggling with the reality of
thrift and the competitive environment we found ourselves in. You know,
this has been Good's been around over one hundred years,
and we've always had the lion chev market and over time,
(04:44):
because thrift has now become so popular, there's very well
funded public companies coming into the you know, and pe
firms buying up thrift and coming in and competing, and
we've never really had to worry. And so the board
we're wrestling with what do we need to do so
that we cannot continue to do thrift? So continue to
do our mission? How do we sustain our mission? And
(05:07):
they decided to bring in a CEO from the outside.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
And that was you, that was me.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So it was it was actually a tennis club and
an informal tennis club at one of the board members' homes.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
What was your first day like to be CEO? What
was your first mission? Where did you go right into
the store to see to kind of work your way
up first the first weekend. It's actually a good question.
You're bringing back memories the first weekend. I wanted to
actually live in the shoes of our frontline employees, and
so I went into the back room of one of
the stores and I was a donation attenant. I then,
(05:39):
you know, worked my way through the store and ended
up being a cashier, and I wanted to actually feel
what it was like and experience that for myself. That's
the way somebody should do it. I really believe that
that's great. Yeah, yeah, and from there, look where you
are now, You've got everything. Is there something that you
wish the general public knew about Goodwill that they don't know?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I think we've spoken about it or a.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Common miss, you know, misconception of good Will.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
I think a lot of it is related to that
this really is a Central Texas you know enterprise. It's
not a national enterprise. Yeah, there is a good Will
International and we are a part of that, and they
help with best practices and other things. But the thing
that is so shocking to me and everyone that we
speak to that doesn't know about Goodwill, the breadth of
(06:27):
what we do. I mentioned one thing, and that's we've
got seven highcoals. Five of those are in prisons, So
we're enabling folks whilst in prison to get their high
school diploma so they're employable and when they're released. We
have so many other programs. We have an academy and
these are all free, by the way, to the public.
We have an academy where folks can get certifications in
(06:51):
for botomy and nurses aid and truck driving and a
long list of different certifications to and you know, to
help them go from being perhaps so fourteen dollars in
our employee to a twenty four hour employee and above
a livable wage.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
And again you said it's all free.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
It's all free.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
So you're building for the future. How long you been
in the Austin.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Area personally about thirty years, just coming on thirty.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
So you've seen a lot of change, a lot of change.
But now you look in goodwill in aternally different light
being the CEO.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Right, yeah, you know, just back to you know, the
board's sort of direction to me, and that is that
this is a competitive environment. Our market share is declining
significantly over time, So how do we build an enterprise
that is sustainable so we can continue to do our mission.
And so that's been the you know, the last three
(07:39):
years is coming in with a for profit perspective and
trying to turn a nonprofit that has historically not had
technology for example, you know, most nonprofits don't have the
means to innovate and how do how do we create
operational efficiency so we can actually build and grow the
(08:02):
organization and compete with the folks coming into our territory.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
And of course you've seen a lot of change, especially
in Austin, with it grow and you can see the
demand is even better, even more than it used to
be exactly years ago, exactly. Another question for you, Rob
is what do you think the biggest strength is of
the company right now with you in charge?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Biggest strength, I would say, you know, obviously the mission
is the strength. It's you know, it's just incredible what
we do tomorrow. I'm talking as an example to Graduation
or Project Search, where children with special needs that have
little hope of getting employment, and this is what we're about,
(08:42):
removing barriers to employment. We spend a year training them
and then they're going to be getting they've been graduating
and they'll get employed in Seaton and Scott and White.
So the strength really is the breadth of our mission.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I think it's great that you can see the results
from the mission that you've started since you've been CEO. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
And I think another strength, which is in parallel, is
that we're a social enterprise and what that means. And
by the way, I didn't know any of this, so
you know, you're getting a three year education. By three
years of education. The social enterprise means we don't need
to be out there holding our hands out for donations.
We're out there hoping that folks recognize the value of
(09:22):
the goods that they donate to us at our stores,
because we turn that into mission. And so I think
it's a real strength that we've got a sustainable business
model through donated goods that powers our mission.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Which I think it's great because it's now just the
visiting with you these past few minutes is making me
look at Goodwill an entirely different light when I start
by make my donation, Yeah I do.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I just want to thank you because you really are
getting someone an education or a job every time you donate.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Well, and that's the mission right there, as you're helping
with a mission. You're helping Goodwill and again you're helping
your friends and neighbors right here in Central Texas.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
So I'm hoping that after this podcast, we're going to
have this assive rush to something to know what to
do with all this stuff? Is that? Are you promising
me that?
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Well, well, I'm montell you the next time that I
go to make a donation at the Cedar Park Goodwill,
I'm going to tell them that I met you and
that I'm looking at things in a different light now.
I want to thank them for helping everybody because you know,
normally you just stop buy you make a donation, and
you don't think about it. But now there's something, especially
when it comes to donating items too. Now there's something
to think about when you drop off your donation. That's right,
(10:25):
how you're helping the future the future. Speaking of the future,
what is the future? What are your goals with this?
Because I know that it's got to be a lot
different than it was three years ago when you started.
What is your long term goal for Central Texas and Goodwill?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And that's such a good question. I'm glad you teed
that up for me because we when I came in.
One of the first things we did is we did
a strategic plan, like what do we need to do
ten years from now, three years from now, and next year.
And we used an operating system folks who run companies
is called traction eos. It's an incredible operator system and
(11:00):
how do you run a business? And our long term
vision is the starting point and we want to expand
our mission. We don't want to reduce our mission. We
want to expand our mission so that each of us
stores and maybe not every store, but stores and communities
where there's folks that have challenges. We want to be
the place that people think of when they have a
(11:21):
non medical emergency. Right now, we're very good at education,
and we're very good at work. If someone comes in
and they need housing, if they have food and security
and a myriad of other things, you know, mental health
crises and the like. The challenge for those folks in
our community is they have to navigate multiple complex systems.
(11:42):
There's no one place they can go to. We want
to be that place that they go to, and we
want to be able to triage them if we personally
can't help them as goodwill. We want to have partners
in place that we can actually hand them off and
that they get the help that they need.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
So I think you get rid of all the red tape,
all the red tape, which I think that's a beautiful statement.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
So one day, and mark my words, you'll see a
good Will store that will have next to it another
sign that looks like Goodwill, but it's not. It's going
to be a partner community center. You know, our marketing
team is working on getting the right naming. So this
is this is this is a new vision and it's
going to be right next to it saying you will
(12:24):
actually see visibly as you donate, you'll see there's something
else to Goodwill that they're actually doing for the community.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, so when you drop by, you're given the fuel building.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Next builder to build the community center.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Was that your vision or did you get that from
a from another business?
Speaker 2 (12:41):
No, No, that's that's my board and my team's vision.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
It's a great vision.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
What what business related book though has inspired you? And
there's got to be a few, right.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Well, I mentioned just a little while ago this book Traction,
and so that you know that that would be the
book that we as a let me just back up
as an as an executive team, and I've got a
fantastic team, you know, to to run a complicated organization
like ours, nearly two thousand employees, many of them have
(13:12):
had some challenging pasts, there's some challenges. My team in
place right now is fantastic. What we do is we
go away every quarter on a retreat and we typically
read a book ahead of time so that we come
into that retreat with some renewed energy and ideas and
continual education. And the one book we read early on
(13:36):
was the very book that I mentioned, Traction. There's a
companion book called what the heck Eos? And this was
the operating system that we were going to use to
function as an organization. So that's one book and the
entire organization is embraced it and it's having tremendous results.
The second book that comes to mind that we just
(13:57):
reviewed was Oh yeah, The Ideal Team The Ideal Team
Player by Patrick LINCIONI I think I'm saying is his
last name correctly, And really there's three characteristics that the
book highlights and that we look for in an ideal
Team member. Hungry, humble, and smart. Got to be hungry
(14:17):
and for me, that means do they buy into the
to the mission of what we're doing. Are they hungry
to come in and help? Have they got a personal
story that can that attaches them to our mission because
it's not going to be easy and they need to
know that they're there for the right reason. Humble And
one question I was asking the views is what's the
biggest mistake you've made? And if you can't tell me
(14:38):
a mistake I've personally made a ton even a CEO,
then then then you don't have the humility that I
think you need for for the role. And then smart
all leadership teams were problem solvers. We're constantly solving problems
and so so I have I have a way love
to test you, Bob, but I don't know. I think
we'll have time and how to actually show case someone's
(15:00):
ability to problem solve.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Interesting? Interesting? So how does this management style work in
the masses? Pretty well?
Speaker 2 (15:09):
I would say we're getting traction and you know, we
had the best year we've ever had last year, so
happy to report that.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Yeah, So it's you know, the difficult part in such
a big organization is there's always more to do, right,
You know, we have a focus for this year. It's
part of the traction process. You have a one year focus,
a three year set of what they call them a
three year picture, and a one year picture. We're we're
needed to reinvest in our retail. We've had a emphasis
(15:40):
on mission for many years, in fact decades, where we're
taking money out of the retail, out of thrift, and
we've been investing that into the mission, which is great,
but the retail stores are not where they need to be.
And you know, I'm embarrassed to say that some of
us stores really do need a facelift. And so we're
now reinvesting in our retail. Okay, that's good. That's good
because that's first thing people see the general public seeds
(16:01):
as your store. Yeah, exactly, and that kind of sets
the vision for the company. Okay, this is how did
you You said you had the most successful year last year?
How did you measure your success? What was it? So
we have a schoolcard at each each division has their
own schoolcard. The highest level scorecard is called the Balance
Scoore Card and that's what the board reviews and holds
(16:24):
me and my team accountable to. It has fifteen or
so metrics. They are divided into mission metrics, and that's
the main thing, which is pretty cool. As a public
company CEOs always hold to, you know, financial metrics. As
a nonprofit CEO, we held to mission metrics. We really
want to have a bigger impact. The board wants to
(16:46):
see that ten thousand number I mentioned earlier. They want
to see that growing. And so we're constantly tracking how
many people are getting certifications, how many people are getting
how many graduates are we getting in a high school.
So a number of mission metrics, a number of financial metrics,
a number of retail metrics. One that most retail people
(17:07):
would understand the same store sales growth, how are we
doing are our stores doing better this year than they
were last year? And then we have a number of
people metrics we are you know, nonprofits are about people
and how we're doing on retaining people, how we're doing
on you know, on growing our workforce and developing them.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Right. Is there a special time of year where you
can really measure this with a good will? I mean,
I know stories are always going to be fact. Around
Halloween when people flocked a good will, it seems to
look for bargains and everything around Christmas time. But is
this a certain time of year that is the best
year for Goodwill?
Speaker 2 (17:42):
A certain time of Halloween's Halloween is massive, you know. Interestingly,
right now is when donating. We're actually pretty low on
donations right now. It's just you know, it's just the
time of the year, the years, it is cycnical. And
so this this point right now, I think maybe it's
back to school. You know, I don't have I'd have
to get my retail expert to give me the real reasoning.
(18:04):
But this is a point where donations actually start picking up.
So this is a good time for us from a
donation standpoint.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Good because the kids have grown stuff, so they're donating
the They're the same thing with spring cleaning also, you
know exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
And also it's a time where people are changing homes
and changing school districts. So you know, for me personally,
right now, I'm moving. And so my own local Goodwill
has got about four or five coll oads in the
in the last few weeks.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
So with the growth of Austin, that's got to be
tough for you guys, because you guys always have to
be prepared for the growth. But it means more more
stores for you guys, and more money it's going to
cost to complete this mission. How is the growth of
Austin going to affect you in the next few years.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Look, it's great. I mean we're in the right place
and you know they also pard for it in other words, yeah, yeah,
you know, the challenge for us is a real estate.
You know, we do need to grow our footprint. There's
there's a number of areas where we need to have
a present and so it's been challenging trying to find
As a nonprofit. You know, we have some access to capital,
we can't go out and buy a whole lot of stores.
(19:08):
We have to rent and finding the right locations. And interestingly, Bob,
there's there's being a few landlords that when they find
out good Will was coming, they'll want us there. And
if you look at some of our newest stores, the
refresh stores and the ones we're going to be rolling out,
they're fantastic looking. I think they're better than most of
the you know, the the retailed I want to say,
(19:30):
middle you know that we've got a really good look.
I'd encourage you to come and see our clock Tower store.
It's up on one eighty three and then our Liberty
Hill store that's about to launch. It is a beautiful store.
And you know, so that has been a challenge. We're
not always accepted and yet we're doing good for our
local community.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Well, I can tell you the Seat of Park stores
are Mason maybe a small store, but you walk in there.
It's a great staff and when you walk in there,
you really you just want to shop to see which
brings up the inventory? How often will the inventory change
in a typical Goodwill location to five weeks?
Speaker 2 (20:09):
So we put we put new goods out and there's
different color tags. I'm sure you've seen that the tags
on the on the goods have a color.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I had no idea what they mean. Then what do
they mean?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
So you know, depending on where you are on the rotation,
the color is the color is for one week we
put them out, they get a certain color, and then
we can track that color and see how many sell
each week. And then on the fourth week we then
run the color of the week's sale and that color
is half price.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
I'll be okay, now, just because I take stuff to
the good Will store and City Park, that's not where
it's going to be. It's going to go to some
other locations around the area. Right, what is the most
popular goodwill location you have? Do you have got a
narrow down with your research.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I think how Kyle Store may be one of them,
or San Marcos. Those stores are really doing both growing
areas too. That's why they're doing They're doing great.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Just amazing, amazing. See there's a lot more to good
will and just stopping buying and making your nation get
to know them about their Also, we.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Also have Bob, we have people. We have intake centers
where people literally come off the street and say, I'm
desperate and you know, I need help. And we've got
a whole team. I think we've got one hundred social
workers that help these folks, stabilize them, get them into
a program. If we can get them into a program,
get them a job, if we can get them a job.
My marketing team have done an incredible thing. We decided
(21:33):
to start what's they called the Bridge Fund, and this
is money that we raised through donations and normally at
our gala. By the way, I'd love to invite you
to be in my personal guest at my table.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
I would I would love it.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
You would have it, you know you would. There's not
a dry eye on the room because the most encouraging
part of what we do is the testimony is of
life change of the people that were touching and our
gala every year we're showcasing some of those life stories
of people that were homeless, that were living in their car.
They got a job in our retail store, and they've
got a certification, and they've got a high school diploma.
(22:07):
Then they went on and did an internship and now
they're employed and they've got a home, they've got their
kids back out of foster care. Those stories are daily
for us, and that would that's really what fuels us.
And at the gala we have that. But back to
my point, the money we raise at that gala and
other donations have come into goodwill. We put that one
hundred percent of that money into the Bridge Fund. There's
(22:28):
no admin overhead. One hundred percent of that goes to
our students of our high school or our academy, or
the people that walk in the door, or our frontline
workers that have just got challenges. Sometimes they can't afford
their rent, Sometimes they can't afford their electric bill. Sometimes
they can't even fix the you know a you know,
their car that's broken down and we're able to help
them stay employed or stay in in their in their school.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Okay, so what's what's what's the best thing that bet
our listeners can do to help Goodwill? How can they
find out more how they can be a part of it.
Would you recommend you have a website they can go
to or just walk into a store and start talking
to What are your employees?
Speaker 2 (23:07):
That's a good question.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
You know.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
The primary way the community has helped us, and we're
extremely grateful, and that is just thinking about Goodwill. There
are competitive thrift stores and they pretend to have a mission,
but they for profit and they donate a very small
percentage of their revenue or their margin to a nonprofit.
And they're trying and claim that they're nonprofit.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
We're not.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
We're a nonprofit. Nobody's getting rich and there's no equity
in this organization.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
You know, we're.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Purely about taking everything that we do and investing that
back into the community. So just continuing to donate and
also continuing to shop that already moves the Dell significantly.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I like that. Yeah, Yeah, you've got a great job.
You wake up every morning. You know exactly what you're doing.
You see the results. So it sounds that's great.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
That's why I chose this, But I can also say
this is not It hasn't been easy. I'll give you
an example of one of the ways we've innovated. Typically nonprofits,
they just don't have technology expertise and quite frankly, the
money to be able to invest in technology. And yet
that's the reality that we live in. Especially yeah, and
(24:20):
interestingly for goodwill, our frontline workers that work in the
back room that you mentioned that take the donations. You know,
they've had some challenging backgrounds and not necessarily experienced and
knowing the value of goods, and yet they are the
ones that have to figure out what are our prices
for And so we're developing technology to help guide.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Them with that.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
And and so that's one of the ways that we're innovating.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And then and AI is a big part of that.
I'm sure that you know practically every podcast, I'm sure
people talk about AR. We're as an organization embracing AR
just to become more effective. And I feel we have
a responsibility to the government agencies that support us and
the people that support us through the donations we have
a responsibility to maximize that investment in us in the
(25:06):
community impact, and I think technology is one way to
get us at So.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
You said that this week you're speaking at a graduation ceremony. Yes, sir, yeah,
you already got your speech written.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
You know, I no, just like here, I didn't come
to speech.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
But I'm to sell you're speaking from the heart, so
I know, no matter what you say, it's going to
come from right here. Yeah, exactly, not from a script.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah. And you know there's something when you when you
stand up and there's there's not a lot of kids,
but these kids had no hope, you know, they had
that there was you know, their future look bleak and
and and actually personally have been very close to what
it looks like to have special needs kids. And you know,
the you know, you know, you know, for for most
parents at you know, twenty one or so, then you're
(25:50):
you know, you're then free to move about the cabin
and your kids go off, and you know, with special
needs kids, it's it's a lifetime commitment. And and this
gives them hope, gives some independence, and it's sowarning, I
can assure you in that room, and when these kids
are holding up you know, their certifications, and they're getting jobs.
(26:10):
Known the jobs that they get are jobs quite frankly
that most people wouldn't want to have, their repetitive type jobs.
And I'll give an example of filling the nurse's station
with syringes. You know, somebody's got to do that. And
we can train kids to do that, and they love
it because they can do it, and they feel that
they're mastering, you know, their domain, and it gives them
(26:30):
hope and purpose and independence. Yeah, and you can see
the look in their faces. Also, I'm doing something exactly
for the good, which I think get the best payoff
right there.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Yeah, and everything that's great. Buisiting with Rob and Neville,
of course, President's CEO of Goodwill Central Texas. Describe your
hopes for the upcoming year in one sentence if you can,
where do you see Goodwill Central Texas one year from now.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
We just had the best year that we've had in
practically every metric. It's going to be tough to replicate.
We have been impacted, quite frankly, Bob, by some of
the geopolitical challenges. Some of our grants have been canceled
that we use to help get folks employed, and so
it's a more challenging year. But in the midst of that,
(27:19):
what we're hoping to do is, like I said, invest
in our retail, invest in our retail technology. So my
hope in I spent this is longer than one sentence.
I'm sorry, but that's okay.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
I should have said one paragraph because it's great. I'm
enjoying it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
My hope is that our retail that folks start recognizing
when they come to a Goodwill store this is a
new look and new feel. They're getting better products, and
that we're more effective in generating income from that, so
we can go ahead and continue to do what we
do well.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Yeah, I guarantee you this is a good Will store
in Central Texas, You're going to look at Goodwill in
a whole different light or different vision. I love your vision.
Rob Neville, President, CEO Goodwill of Central Tech. Is there
anything that we haven't covered again? I want the website
for Goodwill work at people Goodwill Central Texas dot org.
Goodwill Central Texas dot org find out more. Rob Neville,
(28:13):
Goodwill Central Texas CEO and President, thanks again for being
part of the podcast today. Really appreciate Bob, thank you
and we'll see you at Goodwill
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